The Bitter Season
by VoodooMoose
Summary: Uriko Nonomura, a fresh journalist striving to establish her career, is offered a suspiciously good job in an economically depressed city. Motivated not only by her career, but also by a need for independence, she takes her chances.
1. Prologue: Welcome to Deadwood

**Prologue: Welcome to Deadwood**

"_Strong in will, come to play,_

_Enfeebled minds, stay away."_

-Deadwood Public Library-

In the far north along the bitter Pacific Coast a great city resides, founded on the strained and broken backs of several generations of entrepreneurs, politicians and day laborers. Its maddening call stretches from sky to horizon, grasping wildly for those individuals who hear its dark whisperings of excess, women, and wealth. As mankind once traded happiness for intelligence, those who venture into the city risk trading their morality for mediocre thrills.

A hard city to reside in, it's inhabitants are resilient and resourceful if not cynical. Seasonal downpours and heavy winter snowfall withers the spirits of its bitter populace like a dangerous cancer, but the city is not entirely without kindness. Signs of slippage abound, deepening the spiral into civic decay and despair, and still the city gropes for more people to join it in it's death dance. However, good people still exist within the decaying concrete jungle, lingering as good people have a tendency to do. Those inhabitants who haven't lost all hope in the fetid bars and back-alley brothels would surely be doomed if it wasn't for the champions of the city, a minority in this day and age.

Though clearly an outsider, a possible champion arrives by train through the rugged foothills that surround this urban blight. Unaware of their mission, their success and failure hinges solely on a single individual.

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**Author's Notes**: I've been hard pressed to finally write down what has been gestating in my mind for what feels like a couple of decades now. Though it has not been quite that long yet, I'm hoping that a series of interlocking short stories centered around the main character would help convey what I can't seem to write out in 'novel' form.

Readers and fans of the series will either be dismayed or pleased to note that a majority of the characters featured in the game series will not be playing major roles in this particular series of stories. I feel that a lot of the characters have been 'done to death' so to say, I'm hoping to introduce some material that is a few degrees fresher than what we're all used to.

Disclaimer aside, I hope that the people who take the time to read my little story walk away with the thought that it was time well spent. Criticism of my writing is encouraged, I'm making this available to the public for pointers, not praise.


	2. Chapter 1: Over the View

**Chapter One: Across the View**

The train lurched to a stop, jarring Uriko into the realm of wakefulness and cutting off an especially vivid dream that she had just begun to enjoy. Too disoriented to even consider being irritated, she sat upright and reluctantly rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her neck muscles had stiffened from the position she had fallen asleep in, right cheek against the window, as always. Public transportation always seemed to have that effect on her.

A laptop was on the floor of her claustrophobic quarters, no one had bothered to return it to her side, as she was alone in the booth. She lifted it from the ground, musing to herself as she ran her fingers over the laminated Lime logo found on the top of the machine. Despite this small inconvenience, she was pleased that she did not have to share her space. She usually found herself stuck with a man who was twenty years older and twenty times too interested in her.

The scenery outside resembled forested wilderness with a ghostly shroud of fog, rather than that of a bustling city. The atmosphere was eerie, to say the least. Feeling further disoriented, she opened the door of her small booth and stepped out, immediately spotting a frazzled steward.

"Excuse me," her accent permeating her English, "Sir, we surely have not arrived to Deadwood?"

The frazzled steward, a tall man with a thin frame not well suited to trains, responded quickly but failed to mask the displeasure in his voice. "We haven't, some _animal_ decided to up and die on the tracks."

"The poor thing." She said, feeling apologetic. She genuinely liked animals, even though they were sometimes more troublesome than people could imagine.

"Yeah, poor _animal_. It's almost as if they do this on purpose..." The steward trailed off before continuing, "It'll be removed from the track soon, we'll be reaching our destination within the next hour or so." The steward ran his fingers through his greasy hair, which was combed in a way to make it appear as though he had oiled it on purpose.

He regained his composure and recited, "We're sorry for any inconvenience it may have caused you."

Uriko thanked the steward for his time, nodding habitually as she did so, before letting the man continue with his duties. She returned to her booth, closing the door behind her before sitting down. Her traveling pack was slumped unhappily in the opposite corner, reflecting on her own emotional state.

She let out a ragged sounding sigh, as she shifted herself into a more comfortable sitting position. Her initial feelings of exaltation had degraded into homesickness once her airplane had landed in Seattle. After boarding the train for Deadwood, those feelings had grown even stronger, though she didn't feel like acknowledging them.

She had written as a hobby for as long as she could remember, her mother's collection of Uriko's 'fine literature' could attest to that fact, but she didn't consider writing as a viable career option until she took a journalism class on a whim. She was pleased to discover that it suited her perfectly well, and continued on to graduate from university with a degree in journalism, specializing in investigative practices.

Following her second graduation, she spent a year gophering, sweeping up scraps, and writing the occasional dull article for her editor, until she was given the opportunity to spend some time working abroad. Her co-workers were saddened to see her leave, as were her family and friends, but in the end they threw her a great party, and she was provided with the prized Lime laptop that she currently had by her side.

However, now that she was well on her way to her new life, she felt a peculiar uncertainty as to why she had been offered the job in the first place. Through her research, she learned that Deadwood was economically depressed, but her new job was fairly well-paying despite Uriko being fairly green herself. The woman she had communicated on the telephone seemed friendly enough, but still...

"Stop it, you paranoid!" she scolded herself, "You've been given an excellent opportunity and should be thankful!"

She heard a sharp knock on the door of her booth, followed by the voice of the greasy steward, "Miss, is everything okay in there?"

"I'm fine, thank you." She replied more sharply than she intended, "I_ must_ stop talking to myself..."

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End file.
